Oh, hi everyone! Um, its been forever. Anyone still reading?

I have this theory. I think when I’m unhappy and lonely, I write much more. I’ve been really really happy these past few months, and so, no urge to write. I haven’t been writing for Yelp, my LiveJournal, anywhere really.

But, this blog is sad and lonely, so post time!

First off, I did finish the Drunken Bees socks.

I love how they turned out - I used a french heel and toe.

Let’s see… what else is going on?

Woah! Who is that? It’s none other than Kevin’s (New Kevin, not Old Kevin, yes I somehow fell in love with someone with the same name as my ex. WTF?) and mine new kitten!

We decided that Hunter needed a playmate. Some folks down the street from him had kittens, and he was the last one. He has a harelip, and folks would come, look at him, and decide not to take him. Its not a big deal - he can eat and drink just fine. The vet says his palate fused, so while he’ll try to close it up a bit when we neuter him, its really just cosmetic at this point.

He’s totally,totally cute. He’s a huge bundle of energy - he and Hunter have been happily chasing each other around for the past day or so. Katie is like “EEEEEH”, but she’ll get over it.

His markings are totally awesome. He’s a squirly kitteh!

Kevin’s son is completely convinced that its HIS kitten. He played with him non stop for 3 hours. We haven’t named him yet, but they keep calling him Super Dude. I’m resisting it, but he is pretty awesome and bouncy.

I know what you all are thinking.  “I wish Gail would post some pictures of her Drunken Bees socks.  I hope they are fuzzy, and almost show her underwear!”

Well, you are in LUCK!

(In the above picture (which Barb took for me - thanks Barb!), you can see my car, part of the moose sweatshirt I’m wearing, the fact that I badly  need a pedicure, and far more pudgy leg than most folks would like to see.  Oh, and the sock.  Sort of.   My cell phone picture taking capability is low, and god forbid I carry around a camera.)

In any case, you can see that I’m on the foot.  I’ve decided that I lack the brain power to keep up the partial cable chart down the sides of the foot, so I’m doing 1×1 rib, with the main cable panel down the center.

(In this picture, you can see Barb’s shawl, my pudgy toes, and some brickwork.)

If I reknit this this pattern, I think I would use size 1s, as the pattern calls for.  The 0s are making a pretty dense fabric, and are a smidge tight on the legs.  I like how the foot is fitting though.

I had this really really great plan to show you my almost completed Fake Clapotis. Well, its real name is Diagonal Drop-Stitch Shawl from Vogue Knitting Shawls. I’m knitting it out of Fleece Artist Blue Face DK, which is 100% Bluefaced Leciester. It’s full of lanolin, and is really very soft.

It was turning out beautifully. So why am I showing you this picture?

Because Hunter decided that he really likes bluefaced leciester, and ate two wholes into the shawl. At the very beginning of the shawl. And he managed to eat the holes in such a way that it was impossible to repair. So, I had to rip it and start over.

Don’t worry, the cables and twists really stand out once you drop the stitches, even in the variegated yarn. This pattern is much more fun that Clapotis, which is so boring to knit that I almost died the last time I had to knit it.

So, clearly I need a solution to Hunter’s Yarn Eating Ways. My solution?

A new basket yarn safe! It’s huge, has a liner, and a LID. You’ll notice Hunter is not eating anything, because its safe in the yarn safe! Yay!

In closing, I saw the neatest web site on Frontline/World. it’s Kiva.org, where you can loan businesses in the 3rd world small sums of money. It’s called microlending. Often, a business will only need, say, a 1000 dollars. However, either they can’t get a loan at all, or the loan is very expensive in their country.

However, at Kiva.org, you can loan a business as little as 25 dollars, which as many people do it, add up to the loan amount. Then the business in the 3rd world pays the loan and you can either take your money back out, or reloan it. It’s a really fascinating concept. I have a lender page, although I haven’t done anything interesting to it.

Finally, a podcast!

I review the sweaters from the “Inspired by Nature” chapter of Inspired Cable Knits : 20 Creative Designs for Making Sweaters and Accessories.  The top 2 images are of the two sweaters I review can be found here, thanks to Knitpicks.

Oh, and my sump pump makes a guest appearance.  And we listen to Let’s Try Goodbye by Amy Dalley, thanks to the podsafe music network.

Oh, and the episode is 13:19 minutes long - not too bad, compared to the last one!

 Standard Podcast [13:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

My main hobby is knitting. Kevin’s main hobby is playing World of Warcraft. I do play a little bit (I have a level 29 troll mage named Splodie), but Kevin is totally into it. On the server he plays on, they were opening a brand new zone, and it was all very exciting, so he took this picture and sent it to me.

In this picture, everyone is waiting to battle the evil. Or the good. I’m not actually sure.

In other news, I wore Monica’s sweater this weekend. Since she moved to California, she can’t wear it any longer, so she gave it to me. I love it - its made from Black Water Abbey wool, one of my favorites.

What? This is a knitting blog? Oh, fine. Here’s where I’m at on my mom’s sweater.

I’m almost, almost almost done with the second front. Then I’ll pick up around the front to knit the very large front bands and collar.